ASSEMBLY, No. 787

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman FARRAGHER

An Act establishing the Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Program in the Department of Health and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Act."

    2. The Legislature finds and declares that: Lyme disease, which is spread by deer ticks and is one of the fastest growing public health problems, was first identified in this State in Monmouth County in 1978, and the reported incidents of the disease have since spread to other counties in New Jersey. Although Lyme Disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States and New Jersey is one of the states in which the disease is most prevalent, with about 90 percent of the reported cases of Lyme disease nationally having occurred in the seven states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, the disease is still relatively unknown among both the medical community and the general public and consequently is often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed, which results in more serious health problems for the affected person. Lyme disease, if untreated, can result in neurological disorders and severe arthritis in its advanced stages.

    3. There is established the Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Program in the Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control in the Department of Health. The program shall provide directly, or through contractual arrangements with other providers, education, prevention, treatment and laboratory testing services relating to Lyme disease, according to guidelines established by the Commissioner of Health.

    4. The Commissioner of Health shall report to the Governor and the Legislature no later than 18 months after the effective date of this act, and annually thereafter, on the effectiveness of the Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Program in achieving its objectives, and shall include with that report recommendations for administrative or legislative actions to improve the program that the commissioner deems appropriate.

    5. The Commissioner of Health shall seek such funds as may be available from the federal government, private foundations or other sources to supplement those funds which are appropriated or otherwise made available from the General Fund to carry out the purposes of this act.

    6. The Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    7. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill establishes the Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Program in the Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control in the Department of Health (DOH) to provide education, prevention, treatment and laboratory testing services relating to Lyme disease.

    Despite the absence of a formal Lyme disease program in DOH and the lack of a specific appropriation for related activities within its budget, the department has allocated funds for education, surveillance and research efforts since 1980 and currently operates a Lyme disease telephone hotline through the Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control.

Designated the "Lyme Disease Prevention and Control Act."